Beaches of Finale and Finalborgo

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Last full day at Finale Ligure. Today we decided to take a good look over the beaches, city and Finalborgo, one of the most beautiful mediaval cities in Italy. Weather was perfect for a tour and as bonus there was plenty to see because of the Finale for Nepal event in Finalborgo. 

Beaches of the Finale Ligure are great and beaches basically covers one side of the city completely. In October beaches are almost empty but still few swimmers were breave enough to enjoy the sea. I can imagine that during the hot summer months the streets are packed with tourists and the whole beach is crowded by sun worshipers.

Restaurants and palm trees covers the the nice beachline boulevard and just behind the boulevard you can find a great number of small stores and boutiques. Central area of the Finale Ligure compact but big enough to find all the essentials in a nearby area.

After the city tour we headed to mediaval Finalborgo that is one of the three urban districts forming the town of Finale Ligure. It was independent municipality until 1927 when it was merged with Finale Finale Marina Pia and to form the present-day municipality of Finale Ligure. 

Finalborgo is definitely the most facinating part of the city. It is surrounded by walls and all the narrow streets are only for pedestrians and bikers. It seems to be the base for climbers and mountainbikers and here are the climbing and biking stores too. Today the whole Finalborgo was a huge exhibition area with full of different climbing and biking activities because of the Finale for Nepal event. Finalborgo has definitely certain similiarities with Arco in Lake Garda, starting from the narrow mediaval streets and lifestyle.

Day was a good conclusion for our first trip to Ligure Finale and now it is time to prepare our return to Finland. We shall see when it is time for the next adventure to Italy. Until then, Grazie!

Slackline over the river.

Hot chestnuts.

 

Junior bouldering competition.

Spinning class.

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Finale Ligure,Center and Finalborgo, 6.10.2013

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Rian Cornei, Falesia del cinghiale - long, sharp and demanding

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Finale is known of demanding routes and pockets. I heard from one fellow climber how he used to have 6b:s as a warmup but in Finale he ended up having a projects on his warmup 6b routes. His tip for me was to have humble attitude when choosing routes.

Today we had humble feelings. Our target was Falecia del cinghiale at Rian Cornei. Approach is quite long and demanding but guidebook had good and correct instructions how to get there. Crag offers great rock, good bolting and tall routes, on average 20+ meters.

Grades of the routes start from 5c and end up to 7c, majority being at the 6a+ range, but don't be fooled, routes are more demanding what the grade states. Wall has pockets like in many others crags in Finale, here the speciality was pockets with sharp rock.

Heta in the cave. Few 7 routes started from here.

Sharp rock and pockets makes overhanging routes and bulges painfull in same cases. The sharp edge of a pocket on an overhanging route can be painfull for fingers when you have to keep up the body weight. I was able to manage vertical routes with sharp pockets but immediately when the route had overhaning bulges my fingers started to scream.

Artistic rock shapes.

And then about grading. Finale is known to have demanding routes and majority of the routes start from the 6 or 7 range. Even the easy 5 routes are sometimes surprising. Grading on the best case is tight but correct like in Falesia della luna.  Today I climbed 25 meters 5c as a warmup and in some crags that would have been typical long 6a. And the 25 meters 6a would have been 6a+. But once I took the 17 meters 6a+ I felt complete beaten up. At the Falesia del cinghiale the difference between 6a and 6a+ was more than typical difference between 6a and 6b. Typically I onsight all 6a+ routes and some 6b routes, but today the overhanging 6a+ got me. And after that I decided to have a nice cooldown route, overhanging 13 meters 5c, I did it, but it was a true fight.

6a+ just under the bottom bulge.

Great long and challenging lines, recommended if you are 6a to 7 climber!



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Finale Ligure,Rian Cornei, Falesia del cinghiale, 5.10.2013

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Val di Nava, Falesia della luna

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The Val di Nava region is easy to access and quickest approach to a crag from the parking takes only three minutes (to Il Pilastro). At the range of ten minutes walk from the parking you can easily access total of seven crags. 

Our choise of the day was  cliff of the moon, as the name says. It is located a bit further away about 20 minutes walk from the nearest parking. Crag surroundings are nice and it offers recently bolted routes with excellent rock quality and reasonable route lenght with grood views from the top. Approach is well marked and easy to follow. Crag offers good setting for a climbing day, it has total of 12 routes from 5b to 6b. Majority of the lines are graded 6a+. 

Grading of the routes is quite tight but precise and good for 6a and 6b climbers. Tight grading means that usually routes are demanding for their grade and on some other places you could climb similiar routes graded + higher.

Routes started nicely from an open area and it was quick to switch from one route to another. Maybe that was the reason why we completed total of seven routes and most of them being 6a:s. Recommended crag becasue of good bolting, well graded routes and good rock quality.  

Nice surroundings.

Heta leading 5c, Pollux.

Top.

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Finale Ligure,Val di Nava, Falesia della Luna, 4.10.2013

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Rocca Carpanea, Falesia delle Tecchie

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Rocca Carpanea is another great playground like the nearby Rocca di Perti. Both mountains are nearby the Finale Ligure and offer a great selection of crags and routes to explore. Rocca Carpanea has total of 21 crags and our target for the day was sector Falesia delle Tecchie.

Falesia delle Tecchie has total of 28 routes from 5b to 8b, majority of the routes are 6a and 6b graded. Rock is good quality and routes are not polished. Bolting is good but few of the maillons at the top might be worn out. Length of the routes varies between 10 to 22 meters and the average route lenght is around 18 meters. Crag has a relatively easy access, 10 minutes from parking, and path is mostly well marked with red dots as usual in the region. Crag is facing west and the top anchors offers great views over the Finale and to the Mediterranean Sea.

Nature is always a part of the rock climbing and  we got a good reminder of it today when one of the planned route had an active bees nest and a scorpion at the bottom. On the next route I was wondering the wet feeling of the holds, and surprise, some bat poo was waiting in the holds. Bees and a scorpion at the bottom were good reminders to check that
cortisone pills were still in the first aid kit.

During the day we climbed total of 6 routes and skipped one because of bees. Good day, nice crag, defnitely recommended even with some bat poo.

6a balance test slab.

Bees nest in a 6a+ route.

View over Finale Ligure from road to Rocca Carpanea.

  

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Finale Ligure,Rocca Carpane, Falesia delle Tecchie, 3.10.2013, 2.10.2913

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Climbing over sea - Capo Noli

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We were seeking for something different for a change and Capo Noli has it. After few days of harder routes and active climbing we decided to have more relaxed session in a spectacular environment.

Climbing on top of a water sounded a good idea so we headed about 6,5 kilometers to west from Finale Ligure to the Capo Noli. Capo Noli has four sectors of routes and all of them are just over the Mediterranean Sea. Normally most of the routes are climbed with a top rope. That is understandable because in many cases there is no ledge for a belayer and seaside bolting won't last as long as normal bolting. It is also a good idea that belayer stays at the top to watch all the gear left behind. We noticed several fellows who just waited a right moment to check our back bags.

Capo  Noli has a pretty good selection of routes from 3a to 7c, most of the routes are still at the 6 range. Length of the routes varies from 10 meters to 400 meters traverse next to the sea level. On some sectors it is slightly difficult to locate the right route from the top. Some of the routes have anchors in place and several routes are belayed from guardrails with slings. During the day we climbed easy 5 warmups and the hardest route was Delicate and Hard 6a+. We climbed all routes with a top rope. 

Day went fast and we ran out of time sooner what we initially thought. Our idea was to swim afterwards at the nearby beach but had to skip that until the next time. Still the nearby long beach looked good as well the small
rocky beach just between the Dancing Dalle and Easy Dalle.

Relaxed and not too demanding climbing but a great day!

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Finale Ligure, Capo Noli, 2.10.2913

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Red and white walls of Rocca di Corno

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Rocca di Corno offers enjoyable routes on red and white walls. Wall consists of 6 separate crags or sections located around the corner.

Approach is relatively easy if you are familiar with narrow roads and steep turns, here small car is recommended. From the parking it took about 10 to 15 minutes to reach the walls. Small detail from the appraoch is that it passes an ancien Roman route with a well-preserved bridge, Ponte delle Fate.

During the day we visited at the Ghiro and Futura walls. Routes in the sectors are mainly vertical but there are few overhanging sections.  Both, Giro and Futua are well bolted and have routes from 5a to 7a. Majority of the routes were graded 6

Melted rock shapes.

and length of the routes varies between 10 to 23 meters. Overall grading was tight, routes are not undergraded but definitely hard for the given grades. Rock quality is good and routes are not too polished.

Environment was quiet and relaxed. Only the noices of birds and the nearby farm's rooster's sound was on the background. On some parts the wall looked like a melted organic material. Silence, weird rock shapes and the strong colors of red and white made the atmosphere unique.

During the day we climbed 5 routes from Heta's 5a to mine 6b+ top rope project.  Hardest route of the day was definitely the 6b+  Igor with small pockets (one finger pockets) and delicate exit. Route required finger strength, was consuming and took some time, energy and dedication to get it through. Final route for the day was a bit easier our own variant, combined accent from 5c and 6a+ that wasn't walk in a park either but I completed it onsight.

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Finale Ligure, Rocca di Corno - Futura - Giro, 1.10.2913

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Rocca di Perti - a huge playground

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Rocca dei Perti has something for every climber, mountain has crags from sport climbing to multi-pitch walls. Region has total of 19 crags in a relatively small area and approaches from two main entry points. Longest multi-pitch routes are longer than 100 meters and there are lot of long sport routes too. Rocca di Perti has enough routes to offer for a whole summer holiday from beginner to higher level climbers. The only downside is that the nearby motorway A10 causes some background noice on few sectors.

Approeach to the crag goes next to Mediterranean Sea.

Yesterday's visit to Rocca dei Perti was cut short due the rain so we decided to head back. Our crag for the day was Falesia dei tre porcellini (cliff of three little pigs). Crag has total of 32 routes from 5a to 6b+ and a lot of them are longer than 20 meters. Routes are recently and well bolted and it is offering a good selection of lines for a medium level climber. Several of the lines are multipitch routes (2-3 pitches). Routes are mainly slabs with crags with few corners (arêtes). Rock quality is good and not polished so even the hardest 6b slabs are in excellent condition.

Nice, approach via palm streets.

During the day we climbed total of 6 routes Heta's 5b, two 5c and 6a routes and one 6b route. All climbed routes were well graded, enjoyable and offering enough challenge for the given grades. Most enjoyable climbs for the day were Topo Gas Gas 5c - nice slab moves and an overhanging section, Biancanave - short 6a arête and Pinoccio - short 6b slab with few reaches on small fingery holds.

Falesia dei tre porcellini, great crag for 5 to 6b+ climbers on good quality rock, recommended.

View from the top.

Mediterranean Sea can be seen from the top.

Enjoyable 5c slab.

Enjoyable 5c slab.

Enjoyable 5c slab hold.

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Finale Ligure, Falesia dei Tre Porcellini, 30.9.2013

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